


Birthday

by stayingwhelmed



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 18:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12326364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stayingwhelmed/pseuds/stayingwhelmed
Summary: “He’s not coming back, you know.”The vacant eyes widened before Raven stepped back, allowing Robin into her room. The door shut with a hiss behind him as soon as he stepped forward.(a year after Birthmark, Raven is unable to shake the memory of Slade from her mind)





	Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> cartoon network has been running old teen titans episodes and I've been having feelings about this show again. I was rereading some of my old stuff when I came across this thing that I wrote for robrae week in 2015. and it's really short, but I actually don't hate it? soooo I'm putting it up here. yup.

“Raven?”

The door slid open just a crack, revealing half a face hidden in shadows.

“What.”

Robin paused, his brow furrowing at the familiar scene. “Do you… are you okay? You left rather suddenly,” he murmured, feeling a jolting sense of déjà vu. 

“I’m fine.” There was a momentary silence before she continued. “I was just touched by all the presents… and needed a moment.”

Oh, she was so smart. That crafted reply with just enough uncharacteristic vulnerability would have worked on anyone else, but Robin knew it was far beyond that. 

“He’s not coming back, you know.”

The vacant eyes widened before Raven stepped back, allowing Robin into her room. The door shut with a  _hiss_  behind him as soon as he stepped forward. 

“I know, it’s just—” Raven’s hood lowered, and she faltered, her mouth tightening and her eyes darting around the dark room. A moment later, her expression became completely devoid of emotion. Robin’s heart ached. 

“Raven…”

“I know it’s stupid.” The words were biting, as though she were scolding herself. She was holding something beneath her cloak, and Robin caught a glimpse of it. Her clock, its muffled ticking accentuating Raven’s barely steady breaths. Usually practicality won out—with both of them—but Robin couldn’t find it in him to be stern. 

“It’s not stupid. Your caution isn’t misguided, but it  _is_  over. It’s been about a year since you defeated your father, and you haven’t had any visions since then, right?” A twitch in Raven’s expression was all Robin needed to see to know the truth. “Nightmares,” he breathed, his voice heavy with regret. He should’ve known. He himself would still wake up in a cold sweat, imagining that Slade was lurking in the Tower, poised to destroy his teammates.  _You aren’t capable of protecting your friends, Robin._ Raven seemed to always know when he was being plagued by ghosts of the past, and helped him through it in subtle ways—a kind word in the morning, a commiserating touch in his mind. He should've been there for her in the same way.

"It didn’t happen until nine last year.” Raven’s voice rose slightly in her struggle to hide her distress. “That’s in less than an hour. For all I know, he could return; Slade could still be out there, and-” a tendril of her soul-self knocked into Robin’s chest, and he stumbled backwards. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Robin reassured, although his eyes narrowed in concern as he looked into Raven’s. They were lowered in shame. It was an alarming signal when the empath lost control of her powers. “So… you’re worried about Slade returning,” he murmured, gritting his teeth.

“Yes,” Raven whispered. Robin could remember with painful clarity the semi-conscious girl in his arms a year ago, caught after being shoved off a building. Her clothes had been torn off in a way that sent spikes of horror up his spine, her hair somehow longer and shattering Raven’s usual aura of crisp dignity. He never did know the full details of what happened up there. But he knew how cold, how chilling Slade’s presence was, how his very words hooked onto your core and dragged you to him while every fiber of your being struggled to escape. Robin’s own experience had left him with mental scars that would likely never disappear completely. He could only imagine how the villain’s sadistic toying with Raven had affected her.

“Rae, I promise I won’t let him hurt you if he does return. I won’t let us get separated again, and he won’t get to you,” he said with a combination of steely determination and tenderness.

“Don’t tell me you’re still blaming yourself, Robin,” Raven mumbled. Of course he was. “I appreciate the sentiment, but if he does comes back, well, there was no stopping him last time, and there would be no—" her words were cut off as Robin took her in his arms, purely out of reflex from seeing the turmoil written so openly across her face. Raven flinched, dropping her clock. His embrace was the last straw, and as she returned it, her power flared up. A dry sob was forced past her lips, and a gust of wind had her cloak and Robin’s cape billowing behind them, books and trinkets knocked off shelves.

Robin could feel his friend trembling ever so slightly, as though the moment of release had cracked the wall holding back her fear, her worry, her pain. He closed his eyes to contain his own emotions and held her until her shaking subsided, and continued holding on even as her breaths steadied. 

“You’re safe, Raven. And you’re not going to hurt anyone. It’s okay. It’s over. It’s _over_.” But Robin knew it wasn’t. For although she had vanquished her father and her own inner demons, they had left deep wounds in the complex landscape of her mind. She may have saved the world, but she still needed to save herself.

Raven pulled back gently with a small nod. Her silent gratitude came loud and clear through their bond. Robin let out a long breath to calm himself from the emotional strain, and picked up her clock. “It’s past nine,” he murmured, handing it to her. Raven let out a long breath of her own. “Do you want to rejoin the party in your honor? I believe there’s a Beast Boy piñata with your name on it.”

“Maybe later.” Her guard was already coming back up, and Robin couldn’t prevent a sinking feeling in his stomach. 

“Alright, well, we’ll be there whenever you're ready.” With a final sad smile that held more weight than either of them could bear to put into words, he turned and left her room. Almost a year ago, Raven had demonstrated that hope was more powerful than any evil. Now, Robin was hopeful that with time and with friends, Raven’s wounds would heal. As would his own.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! my tumblr is @ravenclaw-helena if anyone wants to cry with me about these two


End file.
